'Turn' Season 1, episode 5 'Epiphany' recap: Victory or death for Washington

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“Turn” reached a major turning point halfway through its first season. Every storyline in the show hit a major climax as Abe and Anna find a new ally, the rebels get a major victory and George Washington finally realizes how important Abraham Woodhull is.

“Epiphany” is the episode “Turn” has been building towards since the beginning, and the one that will hook viewers. Not only did it feature the culmination of the sexual tension between Anna and Abe, but it also showed the previous four episodes’ spying paying off.

The slavery storyline was arguably the most interesting element of episode 5. When Anna, a character the audience likes, claims that her slaves would be safer with her because they aren’t prepared for freedom, that statement comes as a shock. We as a society know that slavery is bad, so how do we respond when a “good” character takes the opposite stance?

Ultimately, though, Anna was right. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but her slaves would have been in a much better place if they had been allowed to stay with her. But instead, Judge Woodhull and Major Hewlett hurt Anna by taking away her possessions, and send the male slaves to fight in the British army and the female slaves, like Anna’s handmaiden Abigail, to be gifts to British officers.

It’s a happy coincidence that Abigail gets sent to John Andre. Abigail is incredibly smart, and so she already knew Anna’s role in Caleb and Abe’s spy ring. She positions herself as their new ally to send information from John Andre’s home if, in exchange, Anna protects her son. That is an offer that can’t be refused.

And Anna and Abe don’t refuse it. Though both characters reach low points with their faith in the revolution in “Epiphany,” they find their dedication to the cause restored with this new avenue for information. They also finally act on their feelings for one another, as they start kissing and almost have sex before being walked in on by the British soldier staying with the Woodhulls.

With their passions cooled, Abe joins Mary at his father’s for Christmas, and Anna takes in Abigail’s son. But farther away at Trenton, N.J., both characters would be happy to know Abe’s information made its way to General Washington, and earned him a victory. The Americans regained New Jersey from the British thanks to Abe’s documents that Ben Tallmadge and Caleb Brewster snuck to their leader. The move gets Washington’s attention, as the episode ends with Washington confronting Ben.

But not all the developments in this episode are good for the rebels. Robert Rodgers finds out from General Lee that the continental militia man who got away back in the premiere episode is Ben, meaning Robert now knows Ben is a man he should be going after. Considering Ben’s connection to Abe and Setauket, it’s only a matter of time before Robert discovers Abe’s dark secret.